The Adventures of Mo – Smart Fun

How many students can locate the United States on a world map? What do they know about the country across the Atlantic?

Primary school teachers can take advantage of a free online resource named The Adventures of Mo (Mo) that enhances national curriculum about US geography. Created by Carol Patton, a US award-winning freelance journalist, Mo draws upon children’s imagination and energy to help make geography entertaining and relevant.

Driven by an online adventure eBook (by the same name), Mo follows the adventures of a dog named Mo and a bird named Finchy as they travel across the country, searching for the owner of a lost key. This eBook is unique because it can be played as a game. Students guess what state Mo and Finchy are visiting based on clues in each chapter.

Just like no two states are alike, no two adventures are alike. The 51 fun adventures (one per US state and Washington, DC) are humorous and help kids better understand that individual differences are what make this world a better place.

Vocabulary words for early readers are sprinkled throughout the chapters. So are lessons about compass or cardinal directions that students can apply by tracking the main characters along their journey. 

Fun Learning

Mo’s website is loaded with state trivia and blogs that teachers can use for extra credit, geography bees, classroom discussions, or for classroom assignments.

Just a few diverse examples of what students can learn more about:

• The ocean’s five layers or zones
• The Pony Express
• A superhero dog named Togo who helped saved lives

The Power of Sharing

For more interactive learning, students can engage in Videos for kids, by kids on the website. They submit a video of themselves briefly relaying facts, stories, or information about geography in their hometown. Avatars can be used to disguise their faces.

They can also email geography facts. If accepted, the facts will appear on Mo’s website and/or weekly Meta games along with that student’s first name, age and city/country.

Among Mo’s goals is to enable students to learn from each other’s experiences or knowledge. Find out more

Carol Patton
https://adventuresofmo.com/about/